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Today, we're checking in with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours as we shine the BOOK SPOTLIGHT on Fleece, Navi, Dead: Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series by Joanna Campbell Slan ...with a glimpse between the pages and a SPECIAL GUEST POST from the author herself! So, get ready to add to your holiday reading list as we discover more about today's title in the spotlight...
Cozy Mystery
16th in Series Setting - Missouri
Publisher : Spot On Publishing
(October 31, 2021)
Number of Pages: EST. 320
Digital ASIN : B09D9T6WLF
The BIGGEST Kiki book yet! Introducing the Miss Fits, ordinary women who do extra-ordinary things! Every holiday season, Kiki Lowenstein plans 12 days of classes, her Holiday Craft Extravaganza. And every year, it nearly kills her.
This year is no exception. As the holiday season approaches, Kiki over-schedules herself and winds up running herself ragged. To make life even more stressful, she must fend off a stalker, a man determined to possess the object of his affection. But that's only one problem.
Kiki's ace full-time employee, Clancy, has HUGE decisions to make. How do you put aside your hurt and disappointment when you've been betrayed? Why should you upend your whole life because of another person's mistake? Is it selfish to think of yourself first? As Clancy ponders questions, Kiki stands on the sidelines, knowing this is not her choice to make. And yet...Kiki feels Clancy's agony.
Meanwhile, both of Kiki's older kids are having problems with teachers. Kiki wonders, "At what point does being an involved parent tip over into being a helicopter parent?" There's also a staff shortage that leaves Kiki in the lurch, both at home and at the store. Kiki might have found an answer to that dilemma when a mysterious woman applies for a job. Her name is Nona, and she claims to be an old friend of an old friend. But is she?
Nona seems too good to be true. Sadly, that might be the least of Kiki's problems with the woman. Because Nona isn't what she seems to be. Nona is a Miss Fit.
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~~~ GUEST POST ~~~
A Holiday Extravaganza: Hanukkah and Christmas All in One Book
By Joanna Campbell Slan
My protagonist Kiki Lowenstein was raised as an Episcopalian. When she married George Lowenstein, she agreed to raise their daughter, Anya, as a Jew. But after George’s murder, Kiki marries again, and her new husband is a Lutheran. Therefore, in her home, both holidays—Hanukkah and Christmas—are celebrated.
For me as an author, this offers all sorts of interesting diversions and subplots.
All Jewish holidays begin at sundown, and that means that Kiki must hurry home from work to be there with her family when they light the traditional candles in the menorah, the candelabra with eight equal arms and a taller arm in the middle. That middle space is reserved for the shamus, the candle used to light all of the other candles. Because Hebrew is read from right to left, that’s how the candles are set on fire. Each night a new candle is added and all of the candles are allowed to extinguish themselves.
Kiki’s middle child, Erik, is seven. He’s learning to say the Hebrew prayers. For him, lighting the shamus is a really big deal! He’s been waiting all year to show that he knows the prayers and that he can handle a lit candle.
Kiki’s oldest child, Anya, is fourteen. She’s been raised as a Jew. As the oldest of three, she’s decided it’s her job to teach her siblings about Judaism. After all, they’ll grow up in a Christian country, so learning about Judaism will expand their understanding of other cultures.
The youngest child, Ty, is only eighteen months. He has no idea what any of this means, but he has learned that he loves latkes, the fried potato pancakes that are a traditional part of the Hanukkah celebration. Oh, and yes, he also loves presents. Tearing away the wrapping paper is a real thrill.
A lot of Christians think that Hanukkah is the “Jewish Christmas.” It isn’t. Hanukkah is more like the Fourth of July with a miracle thrown in for good measure. However, many Jewish families do exchange gifts for each day of the celebration. That means eight days of gifts! Being a child in a mixed-religion household is all sorts of fun. Hardly a day goes by in December when there isn’t a new package to unwrap.
In Fleece, Navi, Dead, as in all of the Kiki books, there’s an emphasis on family and friends. Kiki has learned that family means more than your blood kin. She and her new husband have gathered a family crafted from friends and co-workers, as well as extended relatives. Isn’t that what holidays are all about? Being surrounded by those we love!
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About Joanna Campbell Slan...
Joanna Campbell Slan is an Award-Winning, National Bestselling, and USA Today Bestselling author. Her personal essays appear in five of the New York Times Bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and one was adapted as a television segment for the PAX TV network. Joanna has penned seven scrapbooking technique books, and she has written for Creating Keepsakes, Memory Makers, and PaperKuts magazines. Joanna has traveled around the world to teach scrapbook journaling.
Joanna has also written more than 30 works of fiction. RT Reviews has called her "one of mystery's rising stars." Her first mystery in the Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series—Paper, Scissors, Death—was shortlisted for the Agatha Award. Joanna's series featuring Charlotte Brontë's classic heroine Jane Eyre began with Death of a Schoolgirl, which won the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence for historical romantic suspense. As the editor and publisher of the Happy Homicides anthologies, Joanna has been on Amazon’s list of Top 100 Mystery Authors.
Joanna’s college textbook—Using Stories and Humor—has been endorsed by Benjamin Netanyahu's speechwriter as his favorite resource and has been endorsed by Toastmasters.
The Public Relations Society of America honored Joanna with a Silver Anvil (their highest award) for her work on the first FarmAid. Joanna has been accredited by PRSA as a professional public relations practitioner. She is a certified teacher of Zentangle® and certified in Personal Profiles. Slan founded the Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking contest.
In her past life, Slan was a television talk show host, an adjunct professor of public relations at Illinois State University, a sought-after motivational speaker, and a corporate speechwriter. Sharing Ideas Magazine named Joanna "one of the top 25 motivational speakers in the world." She has spoken in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and all over the United States, to audiences of all sizes.
Joanna is married to David Slan, CEO of Steinway Piano Gallery-DC and Steinway Piano Gallery-St. Louis, and a professional poker player. The Slans have one son, Michael, and a daughter-in-law, Chelsea Edwards. They live with their Havanese puppy Jax on Jupiter Island, Florida.
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